Carbon-centering, battery-tamping machine



J. GRAVES. CARBON CENTERING, BATTERY TAMPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1921- I I Patented Nov. 21, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Nov. 21, 1322.

JOHN GRAVES, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO FRENCH BATTERYKz CARBON COMPANY, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

CARBON-CENTERING, BATTEBY-TAMPING MACHINE.

Application filed September 12, 1921. Serial No. 500,253.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN GRAVES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Madison, in the county of Dane and State of Wisconsin, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Carbon-Centering, Battery-Tamping Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to any sort of a machine in which a can or other receptacle is temporarily held while a central object is centered and held within it as material is pressed into the receptacle about this central object. As the machine is designed for centering a battery carbon in a Zinc can constituting the opposite terminal of an electric dry battery while the so-called mix is tamped in the can about thecarbon, it will, for convenience, be described in terms of its application to the construction of such a battery.

The object of the invention is to provide a machine which includes means for clamping the battery can and tamping the mix therein with-means, automatically operated by the operation of the clamp, for centering a carbon in the can and holding it there while the tamping operation takes place.

The invention consists in means for attaining the foregoing objects which can be easily and cheaply made, which is satisfactory in use and is not readily liable to get out of order. More particularly the invention consists in many features and details of construction which will be hereafter more fully set forth in the specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals designate the same parts thruout the several views.

Figure 1 is a face and Figure 2 is a side view'of the mechanism embodying this invention in its preferred form.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 taken on approximately the line 3-3 thereof.

Figure 4 is a plan view of can gripping mechanism taken on approximately the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Simply as illustrative of a machine including a can gripping mechanism and mechanism for tamping mix in said can, the drawings show a machine having the can gripping mechanism of Graves U. S. Patent, No. 1,306,426, June 10,- 1919, including a stationary member 10, two swinging gripplng-jaws 12 and 13, operating links 14 and a single operating lever 16 adapted to cause the jaws 12 to clamp a can 18 placed within a curved jaw 20 on member 10. Rising from this device are two parallel uprights 20 and 22 which guide .a' vertically reciprocatable cross head 24 propelled by any suitable means outside the drawing connected to the rod 24. At the lower end of the cross head is a tamping plunger 26 adapted as the cross head reciprocates to strike the mix 28 in the can 18 and tamp it into place, about the carbon 30 which is supposed to be located in the center of the can 18.

As machines of the prior art provide, no practical Way of centering this carbon 30, the carbon is frequently to ths of an inch out of center in the can. This not only affects the appearance of the battery but is detrimental to some extent to the usefulness of the battery for the reason that the more central the carbon the more uniform is the action of the mix and consequently the more efficient is the battery. The problem to be solved by this invention is to equip a machine of the general type-illustrated with automatic means for centering the carbon in the battery can as the jaws 12 and 13 close upon the can and holding it so centered during the tamping operation.

One form of mechanism for producing this result is the following: The tamping tool 26 is perforated centrally in a tubular passage 32 so that a vertically disposed rod 3436 can freely reciprocate or maintain its stationary position, as the case may be, without interference by the movement of tamping member 26. On the lower end of rod portion 34 is a carbon centering jaw 37 adapted to engage the upper end of the carbon 30 as shown in Fig. 1 and position it. The upper end of rod portion 36 carries a horizontally disposed arm'38 engaged by the forked end 40 of the lever 42 pivoted at 44 on a bracket member 46 detachably secured to the upright 22 by any suitable means such as the screws 47.

On upright 20 parallel to bracket 46 is another bracket 48 vertically slidable in slotted guides 49, in brackets 46-48 is a cross bar or head 50 to which one end of arm 38 is rigidly secured so that rod 36 is guided on its reciprocation by this crossead and can therefore only move in the central axis of the carbon 30 to be centered. The members 46-4850 are so positioned that it does not interfere with the reciprocation of the cross-head 34.

As clearly shown in Fig. 2 the end of lever 42 opposite to fork 40 extends thru an elongated slot 52 in member 46 and has pivoted to its outer end at 54 a vertically disposed connect-ing rod 56, having preferably, but not necessarily, interposed intermediate of its length a spring connection 58 of any conventional form, adapted to allow the rod to adjust its own length so as to take care of variations in the heights of carbons held in place and also to give a little spring tension on the carbon held in place.

The lower end of connecting rod 56 is pivotally connected to one arm 60 of a bell crank pivoted at 62 on a suitable bracket 64 attached, by any suitable means, as screws 66 in the upright post 22. The opposite bell crank arm 68 enters a perforation 70 provided for it in a circular head 72 carried by a horizontally disposed arm 74 entering and reciprocable in a recess 76 in a horizontally disposed lug 7 8, rigidly secured by any suitable means, as for instance, screws 80, to one of the movable parts, in the particular case here illustrated, the aw 12 of the can clamping mechanism.

The parts are so arranged and proportioned that when tampingis being done all of the parts are in the position shown, the carbon being thereby centered in the cam 18, while the tamping tool 26 is being reciprocated to tamp the mix into place. When the tamping operation is completed, the operator takes hold of the handle 16, and moves it in a clockwise direction to open the jaws 12 and 13 as fully set forth in said prior patent. In its opening movement the jaw 12 turns in a clockwise direction and consequently moves members 7 2-78 in a clockwise direction. This movement rocks bell crank 60 downward thereby pulling connecting rod 56 downward and therefore obviously moving rod 3634 upward and releasing the carbon whereupon the finished tamped battery can be removed. On placing a new can 18 in the clamp, with a carbon 30 therein, the operator has only to reverse the movement of the lever 16 and throw the parts to the normal position shown in the drawing. As this movement is completed the internal angular faces of the carbon engaging member 37 center it in obvious manner preparatory to having the mix poured in and the tamping operation repeated.

The can is supported more or less on a base 80 provided for it. I

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: y

1. In mechanism of the class described, a clamplng member movable to clamp a can in position ready to be tamped, a tamping member movable to tamp material in such a can, and means operable by the movement of the clamping member, movable free of the tamping member, for centering a member such as a carbon in the can during the tamping operation.

2. In mechanism of the class described, a can support, a can clamping member swinging in one plane to clamp a can located on the support, a centering member movable in a different plane to center an article in said can and means moving in unison with the clamping member to operate the centering member.

3. In mechanism of the class described, a can support, a can clamping member swinging in one plane to clamp a can located on the support, a centering member movable in a different plane'to center an article in said can and means moving in unison with and by virtue of the movement of the clamping member to operate the centering member.

4. In mechanism of the class described, a can support, a can clamping member swinging in one plane to clamp a can, a centering member movable in a plane at right angles to the plane of movement of the clamp to center an article in the can and means by which the swinging oi the clamping member operates the centering member.

5. In mechanism of the class described, a pair of guides,a carbon centering tool movable parallel to said guides, a cross head on the guides controlling the direction of movement of the carbon centering tool, a lever pivoted for movement to operate the cross head along said guide, a can clamping member movable to hold a can in position to be engaged by the centering tool and means connected to the can clamping tool and to the lever whereby movement of the clamping member operates the centering. member.

6. In mechanism of the class described, a guide rod, a cross head on said guide, a centering tool reciprocable along the rod, a can clamp member pivoted on said guide to swing about its axis and a combination of lever mechanisms between the cross head and clamping mechanism whereby movement of the latter operates the former.

7. In mechanism of the class described, a guide rod, a cross head on said guide, a centering tool reciproca-ble along the rod, a can clamp member pivoted on said guide to swing about its axis, a combination of lever mechanisms between the cross head and clamping mechanism whereby movement of the latter operates the former, and a spring connection in one of the members between the cross head and the clamping member for the purposes set forth. a

8. In mechanism of the class described, a pair of parallel guides, across head carrying a 't'amping tool. reciprocabl'e on said guides, another cross head reciproca-ble parallel to the first cross head but clear of it means carried by the guides supporting the second cross head for said movement, a pair of concentric telescoping tools, one carried by each of said cross heads adapted to operate on a can placed adjacent to said guides, a clamping device supported by the guides for holding the can in rigid operative relation to said working tools, a movable member in the clamping device movable between two positions in one of which the can'is clamped in position and the other of which it is notso clamped and an operating mechanism between said movable member and one of said cross heads, whereby movement of the member in the clamping mechanism operates the cross head to which it is connected and the tool it carries free of the movement of the other cross head for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN GRAVES. Witnesses:

W. C. BOSTAD, BEN W. PARK. 

